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They have a personal view of a character they thought was always tough and unbending, but we just saw what more than likely is her real personality and it's a tough pill to swallow.

A lot of people tend to forget that part of this mission was for morale purposes and it was said that they were going to have a photo shoot sometime in the future. Well, there it is.

Of course, that's completely forgotten when all the hate floods your brain.

She's still tough, it's just that when a person who has to act that way all the time suddenly gets struck with a new emotion, you can't expect them to be robotic like you want to them to be. That wouldn't build or add to her character arc.

I don't think it cheapens the character and I really feel that people are way too strung on the trope aspects to make anything feel original anymore which only leads to the masses to be disappointed when it doesn't reach their personal standards of excellence.

Anyways, I think it shows that Yui's not really the harden emotionless wench that she makes herself out to be. The conversation between her and Cryska about why she made Yuuya test pilot Japanese TSFs made that apparent and wanted to defend him, but she couldn't out of pride.

But seeing Yui sulking and how insensitive Yuuya was to actually point that out to her was pretty hilarious.

A lot of people tend to forget that part of this mission was for morale purposes and it was said that they were going to have a photo shoot sometime in the future. Well, there it is.

Actually, if I remember correctly, they were originally going to take pictures to raise wartime morale amongst the public, not force, "as punishment," the female officers to act as PG versions of comfort women for the male troops.

The conversation between her and Cryska about why she made Yuuya test pilot Japanese TSFs made that apparent and wanted to defend him, but she couldn't out of pride.

I think she already swallowed her pride when she said to Cryska that it’s her fault by giving Yuuya a difficult machine to control. Saying more good things about Yuuya would be a piece-of-cake for her after saying that statement.

*rubs temples* For crying out loud, what was with Yui's tsundere jealousy mode there? This turned last episode whiplash from straining into downright neck-cracking.

I said as much during last weeks episode, but this cliché stranded-at-a-beach gag was the worst route they could have taken for developing the Yuuya/Yui relationship. Aside from the setting being a polar opposite of the setting in the previous episodes, right now Yui just seems like an entire different character with zero lead-up to whatever stage she just reached.

*rubs temples* For crying out loud, what was with Yui's tsundere jealousy mode there? This turned last episode whiplash from straining into downright neck-cracking.

I said as much during last weeks episode, but this cliché stranded-at-a-beach gag was the worst route they could have taken for developing the Yuuya/Yui relationship. Aside from the setting being a polar opposite of the setting in the previous episodes, right now Yui just seems like an entire different character with zero lead-up to whatever stage she just reached.

On "different character" issue, Yui's personality seems to have reverted back to EP01 state i.e. soft.

Well, lets see - may be in the next series Yui really will throw away her katana, wear a pair of glasses and study for Ph.D.

In EP01, Yui's classmates made a comment on Yui's book reading habits.

For MA or PhD, Yui doesn't need to throw away her katana i.e. she can recycle her martial art skills for PhD in robotics. If Yui is successful in her field, she may get a honorary PhD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_degree

In EP01, Yui's classmates made a comment on Yui's book reading habits.

For MA or PhD, Yui doesn't need to throw away her katana i.e. she can recycle her martial art skills for PhD in robotics. If Yui is successful in her field, she may get a honorary PhD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_degree

I don`t want to dispute that deep in current hardened Yui still concealed soft and lowing soul and of course she is clever, high educated girl.
But when you said :

Quote:

Originally Posted by encia

It was mentioned in anime that Yui follows her father's footsteps i.e. a TSF designer. Yui is not a professional battle-hardened soldier with "devoid of emotions" i.e. Yui a tech/yellow shirt engineering or blue shirt science (StarTrek TNG speak).

it still seems wrong for me. In current lieutenant Takamura are more from a warrior than of scientist.

I have no intentions of joining in with the fray, but.... Can you be so kind to remove that image please? It's a spoiler for one of the major events later on in TE. The innocence of those unfamiliar with the content is at stake.

I wanted to wait on commenting some more until I'd re-watched the episode, which I finally did. Looking at the scenes in isolation, I would say I'm happy with about 80-90% of them. There's a number of nice touches, particularly in the first half.

The problems I have are mostly at a higher level - there's a distinct lack of continuity (for story and characters) between eps 1-2 and eps 3-5 and also eps 6-7: it's as if 3 completely different people wrote them with some band-aids attached at the last minute.

I dont know what happens in the novel but it feels like the anime skipped a story-arc or some important scenes/clues that could explain Yui's behaviour in some parts of this episode. Either that or it just feels like the writers ran out of ideas or couldn't be bothered to develop the characters properly or only care more about giving otaku some cheap fan-service than the long term plot or characters. I can overlook some things but I'm increasingly getting the impression that "character development" and "plot" is being driven by short-term commercial interest rather than trying to tell a compelling story. When I get a feeling like this then it's hard to care about the plot and characters.

For example, back in ep 1 we have a scene of the school girls watching some news and reacting to it in various ways - a similar scene would be very useful to see again because we could get a better understanding of how the various characters see the BETA and also to remind the viewers about the threat. For example, we have various characters from countries who have been overrun by the BETA - have they given up and become apathetic about it? Are the Americans (overly) confident about being able to face them? With Japan still on the front lines, how would Yui react? And how would the characters interpret the reactions from the other characters? A short scene like that could be very useful in many ways.

In this story arc clearly we're supposed to see a "softer" and more vulnerable side to Yui. Fair enough. But, the writers could at least use elements specific to her character rather than using generic plot devices (and apparently we're supposed to believe that nobody checked the weather for incoming tropical storms and that the only ones affected were our 3 stranded main characters). For example, when talking about his past Yuuya could have brought up some bad experiences at school and then asked Yui if she'd ever had similar experiences: but Yui's experiences "at school" were much starker - her classmates either quit (we saw one girl leave after someone died in training, crashing their TSF), died in combat or were eaten, and Yui herself was mere inches away from being eaten. I wouldn't expect Yui to go into all that, but mentioning some of it could make for good development: remind viewers (and Yuuya) about the BETA threat, help Yuuya realise that there's much worse problems out there than those he faced while also helping him understand and sympathise with Yui. It could also help fill in the readers about Yui's been up to in the last 3-4 years and why.

I dont mind fan-service to some degree - I find it pretty hit and miss in this series. The wonder-bra pilot suits dont work for me - too "cheap". A few eps ago we had VG joining the women in the shower - while it might be part of a "basic" fan-service scene it at least shows some boldness on the character's side which is rare. Rather different to the cheap and cowardly VG who wants to spy on the same women at the resort. At least Yuuya is "genre-savy" and gentlemanly enough to warn the women, copping an eyeful as a reward. The final scene in this episode was a travesty of cheap exploitation. It's as if someone said and did "Oh no, we haven't met our fan-service budget for the episode, what's the first idea that comes into your mind?" What next for the TSF development team - an idol pop concert? It really feels like a "race to the bottom".

I'm still waiting for an explanation as for why Yui had to do what she did in ep 5 (using her personal TSF to teach Yuuya a lesson) - she got approval/support from others for her action (the captain at least) so surely there is some justification to taking such extreme action. Why did she have to push so hard so fast? So everyone could have a nice time at the beach? In the absence of any proper explanation I'm forced to conclude that it was for plot convenience... which again leads to a feeling of disappointment.

I have no intentions of joining in with the fray, but.... Can you be so kind to remove that image please? It's a spoiler for one of the major events later on in TE. The innocence of those unfamiliar with the content is at stake.

I have no intentions of joining in with the fray, but.... Can you be so kind to remove that image please? It's a spoiler for one of the major events later on in TE. The innocence of those unfamiliar with the content is at stake.

No problem - my bad. Image deleted.

At the second thought, sertainly - it would be better let such misunderstandings to be. Especially when we remember fovorite Yoshimune Kouki`s hunting habits: Innocent reader/viewer closing to the trap without noticing it and then... BAAAAM!

I wanted to wait on commenting some more until I'd re-watched the episode, which I finally did. Looking at the scenes in isolation, I would say I'm happy with about 80-90% of them. There's a number of nice touches, particularly in the first half.

The problems I have are mostly at a higher level - there's a distinct lack of continuity (for story and characters) between eps 1-2 and eps 3-5 and also eps 6-7: it's as if 3 completely different people wrote them with some band-aids attached at the last minute.

Yui's resolve and change from EP02

Quote:

Yui: When did the living stop counting the dead? Is this world truly walking the path to extinction?
...
//New born baby cries
//Yui cries
//Three years later
Yui: That day, I carved my rejection of extinction in my heart, along with my vow that I would never cry again.

I dont actually have a problem with the changes we see in Yui as you quote from the end of ep 2 and leading into ep 3-5. I think this was one thing they did well.

To expand upon my "distinct lack of continuity" comment: from what I understand, eps 1-2 are anime original, to help start the anime with a bang and to introduce anime-only viewers to the franchise. I think they did a good job with that... then failed to carry it through properly in following episodes, when they could instead of referred to or followed-up on events from eps 1-2 to help improve the character development, plot and overall atmosphere of the series. Eps 1-2 are Yui centric and after that much focus you should expect most viewers to be keenly interested in Yui - but in eps 3-5 there's very little (maybe 2 minutes in total) from her point of view. We're not even given her official job/role in Alaska! I'm not saying that the episodes should be from Yui's point of view overall, just that there's a disconnect between the story arcs that doesn't seem to serve any purpose and ends up being annoying. It's as if the writers didn't properly account for the change in perceptions caused by adding eps 1-2 to the series. There are some marginal references but they're at the level of a band-aid, as I said previously.

Quote:

From EP03 08:39, seems to be normal Yui when interacting with Inia.

I agree. The purposes of this scene seem to be: to show that Yui is a recent arrival who isn't used to the place yet and to show her in a more normal situation compared to her scene with Yuuya at the end of the episode. And also to give some hints on Inia.

Hmm. Back when ep 3 had just aired most of us interpreted that reaction from Yui to be negative (for flying too high) and part of the reason why she was quite abrupt with Yuuya at the end of the episode. I just re-watched the scene in question and I guess in light of later episodes your interpretation is the correct one. Thanks, that helps me feel a little bit better.

The problems I have are mostly at a higher level - there's a distinct lack of continuity (for story and characters) between eps 1-2 and eps 3-5 and also eps 6-7: it's as if 3 completely different people wrote them with some band-aids attached at the last minute.

Like I said earlier... It's like the writers of MLA:TE are trying to recreate Gunbuster.

Like I said earlier... It's like the writers of MLA:TE are trying to recreate Gunbuster.

Ahhh... GunBuster... they don't make them like that any more...

I did get a feeling that for ep 1 of MLA:TE the writer(s) were fans of GunBuster. Doesn't feel like they're trying to re-create GunBuster to me though.

Actually, one thing I like (so far) about MLA:TE is that the series doesn't feature some super-duper once-off robot that'll save the day. Feels more real. Not that I have anything against super-duper once-off robots but it's nice to see something different.